Should have done this yesterday...

I pretty much completely forgot to blog by yesterday at 11 or whatever...hopefully this will still count...

Well, the last 2 class periods and chapters in our book have been very interesting! We're finally getting into time periods and people that we're all a bit more familiar with and it's been nice to see everyone discussing more in class...we covered the 19th and very early 20th centuries and found very familiar names and quite a bit of new ones.  I was particularly intrigued by the composer Louise Bertin (1805-1877).  She composed several operas, of which some were produced at the Opera Comique in Paris (quite a feat for women composer of that time period!).  Two of her Opera's include Fausto (based on Goethe's "Faust" and La Esmeralda based on the Hunchback of Notre Dame, for which Victor Hugo himself wrote the libretto. Louise Bertin is apparently the only composer in history to have collaborated directly with Hugo on an Opera. Pretty impressive!

On another note...I'm excited to start research on the paper for Women in Music due at the end of the semester. I've decided to write about Clara Schumann!  I'm very interested in this sort of wonder woman of music! Child Prodigy, composer, mother, wife, patron, teacher. AHH! I would love to really focus on her piano concerto, but unfortunately there doesn't seem to be much information on it (I find it way more interesting than Robert's), however, I have asked the library to FIND A COPY SO I DON'T HAVE TO SPEND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS!!!!!!!!!! Hopefully something will turn up soon.

To nun or not to nun...

This week in Women in Music we discussed the pros and cons of being a nun vs. a courtesan in the 15-1600's...both had viable options, however being a nun would be much safer! Thankfully most of us are not faced with such decisions today.  You could choose to be an educated courtesan with you own life, and the ability to have sex (WITH ADDED RISK OF DISEASE!!!) or choose solitude away from civilization but with all necessities provided and limited risk of disease ;-)  At least today we can sort of have our cake and eat it too. I was glad to discover the greater ability of women to perform (especially in opera etc.)  I don't particularly care for counter tenor voices, or boy choirs for that matter...

I also was pleased to read that women were now able to become music teachers!  To this day, I usually prefer women teachers...I also prefer women pastors...(cough cough, catholic church)...

Women Composers

This was a week filled with "women in music!" In class we've progressed to women during the renaissance.  In my "engaging analysis" class, taught by professor Carey, we we're discussing a work for voice and piano by Josephine Lang (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephine_lang), a contemporary of Schumann and the Mendelssohns.  Dr. Carey promptly turned the class into a discussion of women during this time and women composers.  We discussed the acceptability of a female composing piano pieces but not in composing orchestral works. We also brought up the fact that Felix published many of Fanny's works under his name, not to profit from it and sell it as his own, but to have her music be made available to the world.  For the next class we were told to listen and research a female composer.  I chose Karen Amrhein.

I had the privilege of performing with an orchestra Ms. Amrhein's "Symphony of Seasons." It's quite a lovely piece of music, and I find I enjoy listening to it now, much more than I did playing it several years ago...my how much I've grown! Symphony of Seasons is 4 movements and begins with Autumn, progressing through winter, spring and summer with a return to the Theme of the 1st mvt (autumn) to represent the cyclical nature of the seasons.  Karen is an alumni of the Peabody Conservatory and holds a Bachelor's degree in Medieval History from the University of California, San Diego.

Chapters 1-3

After all this bad weather, we're finally starting to get into the swing of things and this week we discussed the 1st three chapters of our Women in Music book.  One student commented that at times it can be a bit abrasive (as a male) to read this book, and our professor continued by saying that the author(s) are products of the second wave of feminism.  I have to agree with him, that at times it is a bit abrasive. But this book also holds a lot of valuable information, and has taught me much even in just the first few chapters.  I'm fortunate, if you will, to have been born a white, male.  But I'm also gay. I'm very thankful for that, as to gain some understanding of lack of equality (among other struggles).  The thought had never occurred to me that women of the middle ages would choose to go to a convent to avoid child birth and being considered a man's property. Think how much the gained by doing this; the ability to read, MUSIC, and a host of other opportunities. It's silly, I guess, to think that there will never be someone who things lower of you because you're gender, race, sexuality etc (although it would be very nice!), but I've been watching this great PBS series about Auschwitz (praise be to netflix!!) and after each episode, Linda Ellerbee holds a short discussion with specialists related to that episode.  After one, the director of the National Holocaust Museum said something like: "life is the continuous struggle to build a better world." He was speaking in particular about equality, and I think he is right and it's completely worth the struggle!